Beyond Criminal Justice Reform

We’ve entered a new age of reform—criminal justice reform, that is. In late April 2015 Hillary Clinton, in one of the first formal addresses of her presidential campaign, declared, “It’s time to end the era of mass incarceration.” This policy speech on criminal justice reform signaled a personal transformation. In 1994 Clinton applauded as her husband Bill Clinton signed into law the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, a critical episode in the expansion of the prison system. Clinton’s conversion is not unique; she is one of many.